The average Illinois citizen uses about 100 gallons of water a day. To determine the average water usage for people in your household, examine your water bill for usage, and then divide that by the number of people in your home.
Here are some guidelines:
- Minimalist – the average person in your house uses less than 80 gallons a day
- Prudent – the average person uses 80-100 gallons a day
- Guzzler – the average person uses 101 – 120 gallons a day
- Water hog – The average person uses more than 120 gallons a day
Tips to Stop Hogging
- Don’t let the water run when you brush your teeth or shave
- Only run full loads in the washing machine or dishwasher
- Reduce the amount of time you spend taking a shower or bath by 10%
- Scrape food off the dishes into the garbage, rather than pre-rinse them, before putting them into the dishwasher. Even scraping food into the disposal uses less water than pre-rinsing the dishes.
- Install water-efficient toilets, showerheads, dishwashers, faucets, etc.
- Shut off all faucets, showerheads, etc. when done. That steady drip…drip…drip can waste thousands of gallons of water over the course of a year. The exception: when the weather is brutally cold you might want to let the faucets drip to prevent them from freezing.
- Check for leaks. An average of 14% of residential water is lost through leaks. One great way to check. Turn off all the water in your house. Check the water meter. Check it again in one hour. If the meter has changed, you have a leak.
- Install an automatic shut off nozzle on your outdoor hose (remember to remove the device and the hose before temperatures drop below freezing to prevent a flood from a burst hose faucet).
- Water your plants during the coolest part of the day
- Have a household water audit done to determine how much water you can save. It is not unusual for audits to identify ways to cut water consumption by 30% without impacting your lifestyle.
